


Waste

by Syperius



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Gen, Hux is NOT an asshole for once
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-23
Updated: 2017-11-23
Packaged: 2019-02-05 22:46:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12804006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Syperius/pseuds/Syperius
Summary: Hux needs a drink but all the seats in the bar are taken. Except one table is almost empty. The only one there sitting is you, a First Order officer drop out. And then somehow you two start a conversation.





	Waste

The General stood in the middle of the floor a drink in his hand and crunched up his nose, looking around for empty seats. The bar was calm, yet it was full. It seemed everyone there appreciated silence, or the planet he was visiting killed their joy. He could see many who were clearly drinking for their problems. Just like the person sitting at the only emptier table in the club. Hux sighed and started heading towards that table, thinking it was better to sit there and look like a fool.

"Is this seat taken?" He asked to be polite, even though they didn't look like they deserved such luxury. They should have just stood up and offered him their seat. The human, Hux noted in his mind, looked up from their drink, eyed him up and down once before a nod and an extend of their hand. 

"Go ahead."

"Thank you." Hux said with a flat tone, almost irritated that he had to even ask. Almost. Right now he was trying to force himself to take some minutes time off from work to enjoy a drink, and playing nice with lowly commoners was the price. He thought of them lowly only because after quickly studying their face and being, he could tell they were at the bottom of their life, and alcohol was the only good thing they knew. The glint that told others they knew what they wanted out of their lives was gone.

They shifted, leaning back and eyes following the General as he sat down and took a first sip of his drink. Hux saw they were a bit uncomfortable. It was his presence that did it, and it was nothing new. He was still wearing his full uniform, and to civilians it may look intimidating. They breathed out and their jaw twitched a little. Ah, they were wondering if they should start a conversation or not, Hux thought. If they did, he wouldn't mind if it wasn't something completely idiotic.

"So...General, huh?" They started slowly, staring at the stripes on his sleeve. Hux glanced down at where they were looking at. Apparently this almost drunk commoner knew First order rank insignia. "You look young for a general..." The man resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He has heard that so many times. Once he had liked to think it was a compliment, as it was in a way, but now he was just tired of it.

"You look young for a given up drunk." He replied, without any real ill intent. They snorted, smiled with a small shake of head and took a swig from a bottle. "Fair enough." The bottle was set down onto the table and they looked at him again. There was a hint of bitterness and jealousy in their eyes, though most of it was sadness. That wasn't the only thing Hux noticed. They looked like they were trying to figure something out... Maybe they recognized him, which would mean they weren't just an ordinary drunk. The First Order still had much secrecy around it, and the civilians of this particular planet were politically neutral so they wouldn't even care. So how would they know?

"I think... I have heard of you." Hux raised his brow, urging them to continue. They seemed to catch on this and started pondering deeper. "Yes. You were a some sort of legend when I started my training." Training? Hux didn't say anything but he let the question show on his face. They understood again, and opened their mouth again to speak. Hux took a sip before they managed to begin. For some reason they were struggling. Was that shame they were showing? Embarrassment? 

"I went to the First Order Academy in Arkanis." They confirmed what Hux had already guessed. Where else would they have heard of him, where they treated him like a legend in her own words. "Graduated even." It came out with a huff and a laugh that told him they thought it had all been for nothing. Well, clearly, as they were wasting their life away here staring down at the bottom of a bottle. Hux was surprised though, that a person like them had managed to graduate.

"Why are you not in service?" The First Order needed every soldier and officer they could get. It was war and many died. Surely there would be use for everyone, even this poor little individual. Though Hux wanted to understand their reason, to know who they were and what had happened.

They didn't seem to be as excited to share the information. Their head turned away to look at the crowd around them, avoiding the question. In their perspective it was hard to explain something like that to the kriffing General of the First Order. Silence fell between them and Hux accepted it, looking over at the crowd as well, though for a different reason. He enjoyed it, watching people and finding out things about them without their knowledge or talking to them. 

He heard a sigh. And the sound when someone picks up and sets down an almost empty bottle on a half surface.

"I had the lowest scores from my class." They eventually said, and Hux returned his gaze to them. He had never thought about what could happen to those who were ranked worst in the Academy. Obviously they wouldn't get far but what really would happen had never been important for him to know. If someone was the top of their class, they could choose where they went, apparently the worst had nothing.

"I applied for every damn ship the First Order has and no crew took me in." They said with frustration. "Absolution, Subjugator, Ravenous..." Hux knew the leading officers on those cruisers, they weren't awfully strict about the quality of their officers. They were more mediocre. Did their work well enough, but not full potential, which he thought was a waste.

"Not Finalizer?"

"Hah! I didn't even try. Everyone knows only the best can get chosen to do their service on Finalizer." They forgot they were talking to the General of that ship. Hux smirked a little. That wasn't a bad reputation. He only wanted the best. 

"You know, I wanted to do my part in shaping the Galaxy. I wanted to help and achieve. Maybe even climb up some ranks! But no one wants the last one. Even though to graduate from that shithole you still have to be at least ok level." They spat the word 'shithole' and sounded really annoyed. Hux noticed they were slowly getting riled up. "You know that, you went there yourself. You know the testing they put us through, especially the last one where majority of the cadets fail. I didn't! But still, they thought I was waste and I didn't get recruited." They drank the last of the alcohol they had, while Hux had barely drank half of his drink. He forgot, because in some way this troubled individual was interesting.

They were right. To graduate from Arkanis Academy was hard, and even the worst ones were still...usable future officers. Their potential was small but it was possible. Hux was irritated that they hadn't tried harder. He believed in people pushing their boundaries and bettering themselves, but this one had just given up. Such a waste, he thought too. Such a waste of potential. There were opportunities, but they needed one to be slammed into their face to take it.

"I do not appreciate wallowing in self-pity, soldier." In his eyes they still were, just a fallen one.

"Oh shut up yo-..."

"Listen to me carefully." Hux interrupted them before they managed to say something to change his mind from what he was about to say. "I will give you a chance. You stop drinking. You stop wasting yourself away. Stop the self-pity. Start working, start working hard, and I will give you a permanent spot in my crew if you meet my expectations."

Their jaw was almost hanging on the floor, eyes wide from the shock. Was the General serious?

"You have five seconds to accept or I will pull my offer away." Hux sounded like a General now, not a man enjoying a drink.  
"5.. "  
"4..."  
"3..."

"Yes! Yes... I accept." They said hurriedly. Or more like screamed. Hux asked them their name and they answered. Later back on the Finalizer he'd search for data on them. Surely Arkanis Archives would still have it. 

"I will not disappoint you, Sir."

"Good." Hux lifted his drink and brought it close to his lips. "Now shut up and let me enjoy the evening off."


End file.
